Schiaparelli Celebrates the Women Who Shocked Society During Haute Couture

Schiaparelli’s couture 2017 show brought a wisp of romance and cherished the creative women who helped shape the house’s future.

Elsa Schiaparelli was famed for the women she kept around her: clever, creative and brave, they served as muses to one of France’s most renowned fashion houses.

For couture 2017, creative director Bertrand Guyon took inspiration from these women, offering a collection in which the artistic influences were evident in shape and shade. The collection was romantic and directional, the femininity evident, yet re-imagined in more graphic prints and powerful contrasts of colour.

Hearts served as a recurring motif, but there were more playful symbols too – lobsters, medusa-esque suns and abstract faces.

As for materials, the designs were rendered in layers of silk gauze, lace and organza, paired with opulent gem-stone earrings and minimalist heels adorned with hearts. Colours were richly pigmented, varying from stormy moss-greens to egg-shell blues and whispers of red.

In a week where opulence and spectacle played a crucial role, Schiaparelli’s evocative and considered homage to the creative force of women made its own, idiosyncratic mark.